The Berkeley City Council will host a special meeting on Tuesday to update its policy on demolishing buildings, which could ease the path for more homes to be built on former single-family lots.
The city has to update its ordinance to become compliant with a 2019 state law, SB 330, which requires replacement of affordable units if any are demolished, and encourages production of more housing. On Tuesday, the council will also review several Berkeley-specific updates proposed to the demolition ordinance.Â
ADUs are included in the new proposal, and property owners would have to replace an ADU if it is demolished in certain cases. Single-family, owner-occupied homes with only one ADU are exempt from this requirement.
Under state law, protected units have specific replacement requirements. The updated city proposal would incorporate this mandate, which covers all units rented by a household that makes at or below 80% of area median income, and include units covered by the Berkeley Rent Control Ordinance.
The current ordinance also aims to protect buildings from demolition if a property owner evicted tenants under the Ellis Act, which allows evictions if an owner wants to take a building off the rental market. The proposed update expands this protection to cover all buildings where no-fault evictions have happened, for a certain period of time.
Some of the changes to the demolition ordinance go hand-in-hand with the Berkeley City Council’s unanimous decision to to ban single-family zoning in 2021.
Developers currently need a use permit to demolish single-family homes in Berkeley, and proposed updates to the ordinance encourage approval of those permits if a multi-unit building is planned for the property.
These plans could then be given an administrative use permit, or fast-tracked approval.
The special meeting will begin at 3:30 p.m. at 1231 Addison St. in the Berkeley Unified School District boardroom, as well as being broadcast online. The full agenda is available online.
